Saturday, July 30, 2016

So Many Excuses

Another app? I don't have time. I forgot my password. We tried that and it didn't work. Do I have to? I really liked the paper newsletter. Ugh.

Yes - you have to. You really do!

The world changes everyday. Our kids pick it up, they click on links, hover over an icon - figure it out by digging in and getting their hands dirty.

Why should adults have a free pass to make excuses?

Only the early adopters are on board because they're techie.

Tech isn't even tech, it's our life. It's in our life. Our kids don't call their devices, apps, and way of communicating tech. It's just life. Ask a kid what they like about tech, they'll give you a 'what are you talking about' look.

We receive communication from so many different channels in our life, in a constant stream throughout the day.

Yes, change is happening at a much faster rate than fifty years ago - and we have to keep up.

My wife's grandmother is 95 and she's relevant. She has Gmail, tried to set up her own wi-fi network, chats with me on Gmail, calls me each week to ask questions about her computer. She's 95 and doesn't make one excuse. She puts herself out there and tries new things, because she knows that in order to stay connected - she has to!

I'm not the only one though, in talking with others it's totally real, it's totally a problem and something needs to be done. There shouldn't be a free pass because people just don't want to. Because they're close to retirement. Because it's more work.

The more relevant you are the less work you have to do. The more conversations you can have. The more connections you can make. The more you know the lingo!

Don't be stuck in the Internet Explorer era. The 'what used' to work five years ago era. The, I loved when we did this mentality.

That's all nostalgia, our kids don't connect with that. If we're not relevant and speaking our kids language, we're teaching and connecting and communicating with an entire generation of kids in a foreign language that they don't speak and we can't understand what they're saying either.

My wife works in medicine, she can't tell her patients the procedures she knows are ten years old. Sorry, I haven't learned that yet. Not acceptable.

Do you want a pilot flying the plane that you're on, not be up to date with the new instruments and procedures? Of course not.

Ask a group of 5th graders what Blockbuster is? They can't tell you. Blockbuster doesn't have an excuse, they simply didn't remain relevant and became obsolete.

No more excuses, they don't work, it doesn't get you anywhere and just pushes you farther away. If you need help, just ask - there are plenty of us who will lend a hand!